ATHENS

25/11/18 - 30/11/18

Stage 3 studio "ENCLOSED ORDER" trip to Athens and Meteora

I am incredibly thankful to have visited Athens, having been interested in Ancient Greek architecture and mythology since I was young. To have aspects of the trip support the design of my graduate project in such a motivating way made it an exceedingly great experience. [Edited 1/08/2018]

To further our understanding of sacred spaces for our design, our studio travelled to Athens. Rich with architectural history and religious buildings, it was a beneficial trip, regardless of our individually chosen religious orders (for graduate project). The mastery in materiality, from the marble in the Acropolis, to its contemporary admirer The New Acropolis Museum, the abundance of natural material highlighted its importance for my own project. The appearance of excavation could be achieved through similar materials and thickness of walls - monasteries we visited used the repetition of material, creating the appearance that the complex was carved from a singular mass block.

DIMITRIS PIKIONIS

Responsible for paving the journey around the Acropolis, the architect used broken stone and material pieces from surrounding antiquity that had previously been demolished. This places the Path into a time of both the past and present, reinforcing the sense of timelessness I was eager to take into my own design. Broken marble fluted columns are transformed to become seating along the pathway, and the directional stone paving to guide the visitor up the incline. The design is sensitive to its changing topography, carving a journey for the visitor with the invitation to wander for themselves. Through studying his architectural drawings, I found he relied on geometric justification to position and orientate the paving stone. This rationality creates a "control" when paving my own design, alongside his justification lines drawn onto my own plans. Each angle, arc and line lead to vanishing points or zones of interest (a "moment").